DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0163
RETURN FROM UPPER EGYPT.
127
belonging to the inhabitants. Beyond El Hadjar, (one
of the depopulated places already mentioned,) a ridge of
barren land on a higher level intersects the cultivated
plain, which continues to the two villages of Illahoon,
where the pyramid, which forms a prominent object from
Benisouef, has been constructed on the verge of the
desert. At this place a dam, connected with a bridge,
regulates the water of the Bahr Yousef: it is well built;
and had been, I heard, lately repaired; and was, no
doubt, erected on antient foundations, as many are to be
seen near it, together with shafts and ruined tombs. A
palace belonging to the Pacha is pleasantly situated in a
grove of palm-trees, on the grassy banks of a large pool,
and the scene is not only enlivened by the picturesque
figures, that repair to it for the water, and by the persons
belonging to a magazine, where a number of carts are
employed, but also by occasional travellers, as a consi-
derable traffic is yet kept up from Medinet El Faioum,
(the present capital of this once fertile province,) with
Cairo, and with the other towns to the northward of
Benisouef.5 The common route to the greater oasis
likewise passes through it.
From Illahoon, the road to Medinet passes over a
tract of ill-cultivated ground at the verge of the desert,
leaving the pyramid to the northwards; and, on the
distant barren hills to the southward, the remains of
5 There is, however, a much shorter communication through the
desert, from the northern part of the Faioum by Dashoor to Gizeh,
which requires about twenty-four hours, and the journey thence to
Alexandria occupies about six days. It is remarkable that the two
other tracts reach the banks of the Nile near pyramids, one at that of
Lysht, and the other at the false pyramid.
127
belonging to the inhabitants. Beyond El Hadjar, (one
of the depopulated places already mentioned,) a ridge of
barren land on a higher level intersects the cultivated
plain, which continues to the two villages of Illahoon,
where the pyramid, which forms a prominent object from
Benisouef, has been constructed on the verge of the
desert. At this place a dam, connected with a bridge,
regulates the water of the Bahr Yousef: it is well built;
and had been, I heard, lately repaired; and was, no
doubt, erected on antient foundations, as many are to be
seen near it, together with shafts and ruined tombs. A
palace belonging to the Pacha is pleasantly situated in a
grove of palm-trees, on the grassy banks of a large pool,
and the scene is not only enlivened by the picturesque
figures, that repair to it for the water, and by the persons
belonging to a magazine, where a number of carts are
employed, but also by occasional travellers, as a consi-
derable traffic is yet kept up from Medinet El Faioum,
(the present capital of this once fertile province,) with
Cairo, and with the other towns to the northward of
Benisouef.5 The common route to the greater oasis
likewise passes through it.
From Illahoon, the road to Medinet passes over a
tract of ill-cultivated ground at the verge of the desert,
leaving the pyramid to the northwards; and, on the
distant barren hills to the southward, the remains of
5 There is, however, a much shorter communication through the
desert, from the northern part of the Faioum by Dashoor to Gizeh,
which requires about twenty-four hours, and the journey thence to
Alexandria occupies about six days. It is remarkable that the two
other tracts reach the banks of the Nile near pyramids, one at that of
Lysht, and the other at the false pyramid.